Council Marathon Ends-Development Update Coming
Hello Everyone
I must apologize for not Blogging earlier this week. The constant extension of Council has wreaked havoc on our schedules at this busy time of year. I am heartily annoyed with some of the worst culprits at Council who hold up items yet always vote against staying late to finish the work. I am one who always votes to stay late to finish. You are not paying me by the hour. A salary such as mine deserves a little work by the midnight oil from time to time!
This week, whenever not in session (And sometimes during!) I have been rushing to another committee room to chair an interview panel of all of the citizen applicants for the Citizen Environmental Assessment Team to find the post-Michigan waste solution for Toronto. Councillors Giambrone, Pitfield, Deputy Mayor Bussin and myself will present that report to Works on January 11th and then the C.E.A.T. can begin its 4 to 5 year task to review every possible option, report a proposal to Council and then stay on to complete the RFP for the chosen solution.
On Wednesday, our motion to refuse the site plan approval for the 25 Buchan Court Development was finally passed. I also moved that the City hire an outside planner and outside legal to defend Council's position should the matter be appealed at the Ontario Municipal Board. This is quite common procedure in such a situation. With the OMB reform package being proposed this week, I think we can assume that the applicant for Buchan Court will have filed immediately. He will be hoping to have his case considered under the current guidelines. My office will keep the community posted through this Blog as soon as we receive written notice of an appeal.
Wednesday was also the long debate and final vote on the Toronto Drug Strategy. There has been extremely sensationalistic reporting on this. What is disappointing is that the sensationalistic focus seemed to cross all boundaries and appear in all newspapers. Misleading information abounds as a result.
Please call my office to receive the entire Drug Strategy report and read the entire report if you have any concerns as a result of media coverage. I am happy to meet with any community group to go over the strategy and discuss it with your members. I believe every Councillor has a duty to enhance the next consultative phase with his/her own Ward discussions. The strategy calls for an almost overly-cautious roll-out of the plan and many more hours of community consultation on the more controversial aspects. Council has not, I repeat, HAS NOT authorized a safe injection site for the City of Toronto.
A feasibility study will take place over the next entire year before any such decision is made. But Councillor Rae made clear in his presentation that by the end of the 18 month process, many of the committee members involved, including Councillor Rae himself and certainly myself, are not convinced it is the exact solution for Toronto.
Last but not least, Justin and the staff team are just completing a door-to-door newsletter that will include a development update on applications ward-wide. Other year end news will be included. We are timing the newsletter to arrive at your door between Christmas and New Years in the hopes that this is a downtime when people have a bit of time to curl up with the papers and the mail.
I must apologize for not Blogging earlier this week. The constant extension of Council has wreaked havoc on our schedules at this busy time of year. I am heartily annoyed with some of the worst culprits at Council who hold up items yet always vote against staying late to finish the work. I am one who always votes to stay late to finish. You are not paying me by the hour. A salary such as mine deserves a little work by the midnight oil from time to time!
This week, whenever not in session (And sometimes during!) I have been rushing to another committee room to chair an interview panel of all of the citizen applicants for the Citizen Environmental Assessment Team to find the post-Michigan waste solution for Toronto. Councillors Giambrone, Pitfield, Deputy Mayor Bussin and myself will present that report to Works on January 11th and then the C.E.A.T. can begin its 4 to 5 year task to review every possible option, report a proposal to Council and then stay on to complete the RFP for the chosen solution.
On Wednesday, our motion to refuse the site plan approval for the 25 Buchan Court Development was finally passed. I also moved that the City hire an outside planner and outside legal to defend Council's position should the matter be appealed at the Ontario Municipal Board. This is quite common procedure in such a situation. With the OMB reform package being proposed this week, I think we can assume that the applicant for Buchan Court will have filed immediately. He will be hoping to have his case considered under the current guidelines. My office will keep the community posted through this Blog as soon as we receive written notice of an appeal.
Wednesday was also the long debate and final vote on the Toronto Drug Strategy. There has been extremely sensationalistic reporting on this. What is disappointing is that the sensationalistic focus seemed to cross all boundaries and appear in all newspapers. Misleading information abounds as a result.
Please call my office to receive the entire Drug Strategy report and read the entire report if you have any concerns as a result of media coverage. I am happy to meet with any community group to go over the strategy and discuss it with your members. I believe every Councillor has a duty to enhance the next consultative phase with his/her own Ward discussions. The strategy calls for an almost overly-cautious roll-out of the plan and many more hours of community consultation on the more controversial aspects. Council has not, I repeat, HAS NOT authorized a safe injection site for the City of Toronto.
A feasibility study will take place over the next entire year before any such decision is made. But Councillor Rae made clear in his presentation that by the end of the 18 month process, many of the committee members involved, including Councillor Rae himself and certainly myself, are not convinced it is the exact solution for Toronto.
Last but not least, Justin and the staff team are just completing a door-to-door newsletter that will include a development update on applications ward-wide. Other year end news will be included. We are timing the newsletter to arrive at your door between Christmas and New Years in the hopes that this is a downtime when people have a bit of time to curl up with the papers and the mail.
posted by Ward 33 @ 7:19 PM
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